The 2008 Replicas Tour in 10 Riveting Chapters:
One man's mission to see the last 10 shows of the UK Replicas Tour
Chapter 2
Newcastle
I woke up at Don's place in Sunderland at about 12:30 pm. I had to bank some sleep for the next week of shows. I wandered downstairs and met his young niece who was shy at first around the new guy. Luckily, we became fast friends talking about the universal appeal of Hannah Montana, Spongebob and PSP games.
Don had a great place, quiet but within easy walking distance to downtown. Home to the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Sunderland is a beautiful and large seaside community numbering more than 177,000 but there was no mention of it in my Lonely Planet guide book, only of Newcastle 10 miles away. Don helped me get online with his computer so I could score a ticket to the Newcastle show the next day. I wasn't sure if I had a ticket waiting for me there. I surely didn't want to come all this way just to miss it! Amazingly I was able to get a ticket and I breathed a sigh of relief. We walked to the post office where I picked up stamps for postcards.
Don showed me around town to a local historical museum with its Winter Gardens greenhouse and resident exotic fish. We tooled around the nearby Mowbray Park where he played as a child. I made sure to get some pictures of the palm trees there. Folks back in the states find it hard to believe there are palm trees all over England. Thank the Caribbean trade winds.
He went home and left me to my own devices. I headed for the tourist info centre where a kind woman armed me with maps and brochures. The beaches were mentioned as a good place for a walk. Along the way I found this amazing and lonely museum. It had been the Monkwearmouth Railway Station but now sat ignored by residents and tourists alike, unmentioned in tourist guides. Admission was free and I spent an hour there marveling at the interesting history of the building and the region. There was lots of interesting displays and on-demand video over 100 years old. Even Don forgot about the Monkwearmouth as a place to visit.
I walked back downtown and looked around pawn shops and ventured into a British casino dotted around every big city in England. Most are just slot machines and close at night, unlike the American casinos. I didn't gamble but was fascinated to watch others lose their bankroll. I watched someone outside get arrested. As far as I could tell someone caught this bloke stealing.
I perused a record shop and made my way back to Don's and spent a great evening in talking with him and his two sisters. We talked until well into the night. Back in bed I went through the pictures on my camera deleting the more dodgy ones. I finally fell asleep at 5 in the morning and got 8 hours, waking up at 1. There was no preshow party planned for Newcastle so we had time to spare. Don made some excellent spaghetti (how did he know it was my favorite?), and we made it to the show in time for the doors opening.
It was the moment of truth. Did I have a ticket waiting inside? As people streamed inside the Carling Academy and Don wandered around town with some friends before the show, I made my way to the ticket booth and found my name listed twice. Sure enough, I had two tickets. C'est la vie. I ran upstairs to the stage and got a great spot front and center in the second row.
The place had a balcony yet it seemed to be closed. The place looked packed to me. Daggers was the opening band. For an opening band, people really enjoyed them. They were like a mix of Public Image Limited and Depeche Mode, but harder. I was glad to see them open for Gary over the next few nights.
Soon Gary took to the stage to the roaring applause of the approving Numanoids. I felt as if I was privy to something rare and unusual. Many of the Numanoids following the tour in the south of England skipped this one as Newcastle is so far north up by the Scottish border. The fog was much heavier than in Nottingham making for fuzzier pictures, but I still shot some winners.
I met some Numanoids outside I hadn't met in years like Wilson of The Crazies (Scottish Division). There was an aftershow party put on my the venue upstairs but I didn't want to hold up Don from the ride home. Don called my phone surprised I was outside waiting for him. He thought I would have stolen away for the aftershow party. Oh well, no biggie. There's always next time right?
We drove away into the night like a nightmare on wheels. But this time Don's brother was in tow. This brother performed in a band doing metal covers and planned to join us for the drive to Manchester the next morning. On the short drive back to Sunderland, we again drove past this amazing Penshaw Monument sitting alone on a hill and all lit up at night. It was creepy in its monstrosity.
We got home with time enough to talk about all things Numan before hitting the hay for the trip to Gary's historic birthday gig tomorrow complete with preshow party and the best aftershow party of the tour.